Linguistic Relativity
Linguistic Relativity
LINGUISTIC RELATIVITY
Author(s): Eleanor Rosch
Source: ETC: A Review of General Semantics, Vol. 44, No. 3 (Fall 1987), pp. 254-279
Published by: Institute of General Semantics
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LINGUISTIC
EleanorRosch* RELATIVITY*
*Eleanor
Roschisa professor
ofpsychology
attheUniversity
ofCalifornia,
Berkeley.
fThisarticle
wasreprinted
fromHuman Theoretical
Communication: of
, bypermission
Explorations
Erlbaum
Lawrence Associates.
254
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Linguistic Relativity 255
Language as Metaphysics
The strongest and mostinclusiveformoftheWhorfianhypothesis (and the
onlyform,perhaps,thatWhorfwouldtodayrecognize)is thateach language
bothembodiesand imposesupon theculturea particularworldview.Nature
is, in reality,
a kaleidoscopiccontinuum,but theunitswhichformthebasis
ofthegrammar ofeachlanguageservebothtoclassify intocorresponding
reality
unitsand to definethefundamental natureofthoseunits.Thus, in English
and other"StandardAverageEuropean"tongues,thebasic unitsofrealityare
objects(nouns),composedofsubstanceand form,and actions(verbs)- both
ofwhichexistin an objective,three-dimensional space (expressedbysuchlin-
guisticdevicesas locatives)and a "kineticone-dimensional uniformly and per-
petuallyflowingtime"(expressedbyformssuchas tense).(2) In theHopi lan-
guage,however, thingsand actionsarenotdistinguished; rather,theyareboth
Events,differentiated onlyaccordingtoduration.EventosaythataboutHopi
maybe misleading,forratherthansubstance,motion,space,and time,Hopi
grammar dividestheuniversebytwogreat"principles," "Manifested" (Objective)
and "Unmanifest" (Subjective)."Manifested" comprisesall thatis or has been
accessibletothesenses,while"Unmanifest" (Subjective)includes,as one group,
all thatwe call futureand all thatwe call mental,includingthatwhichis per-
ceivedas future-potential-mental in the"heart"ofmen,animals,plants,inani-
mateobjects,and theCosmos. The metaphysics implicitin thegrammarof
StandardAverageEuropeanmakesit sensibleto analyzesentences,and thus
reality,intoagents,actions,and theobjects,instruments, and resultsofactions;
butsuchconstructions, Whorfargues,aregrossdistortions whenused as units
ofanalysisforvariousAmericanIndian languages.In supportofhis conten-
tions,Whorfprovidesa varietyoftranslations ofstatements in variousIndian
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256 Et cetera • FALL1987
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Linguistic Relativity 257
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258 Et cetera • FALL1987
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Linguistic Relativity 259
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260 Et cetera • Fall 1987
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Linguistic Relativity 261
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262 Et cetera • FALL1987
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Linguistic Relativity 263
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264 Et cetera • FALL1987
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Linguistic Relativity 265
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266 Et cetera • FALL1987
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Linguistic Relativity 267
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268 Et cetera • Fall 1987
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Linguistic Relativity 269
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270 Et cetera • FALL1987
TABLE 1
Accuracyof Color Memory:
Mean Number ofCorrectlyRecognized Colors
Stimulus colors
Culture Focal Internominal
U.S. 5.25 3.22
Dani .47
2^05
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Linguistic Relativity 271
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272 Et cetera • FALL1987
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Linguistic Relativity 273
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274 Et cetera • FALL 1987
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Linguistic Relativity 275
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276 Et cetera • FALL1987
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Linguistic Relativity 277
CONCLUSIONS
We began withthenotionoflinguisticrelativity definedin termsofinsur-
mountabledifferences in theworldviewsofculturesbroughtaboutbydiffer-
encesin naturallanguages.Because ofthevarietyofrequirements forspeci-
ficityand cross-culturalcontrolsin testingsuch assertions,we werereduced
totheferless sweepingclaimthatcolornamesaffect someaspectsofthought.
However,we discoveredthatcolorsappearedtobe a domainsuitedto demon-
stratejusttheoppositeoflinguisticrelativity, namely,theeffect ofthehuman
perceptualsystemin determining linguisticcategories.Verysimilarevidence
existsin thedomainsofgeometric formand emotioncategories. Furthermore,
psychologicalprinciplesofcategorization mayapplyto the formation of all
categories,even in culturallyrelativedomains.
At present,theWhorfianhypothesis notonlydoes notappeartobe empir-
icallytruein anymajorrespect,but it no longerevenseemsprofoundly and
ineffably true.Whyhas itbeen so difficult todemonstrate effectsoflanguage
on thought? Whorfreferred tolanguageas an instrument which"dissects"and
categorizes "nature."
In thefirstpartofthechapter,we sawthatithas notbeen
establishedthatthecategorizations providedbythegrammarofthelanguage
actuallycorrespondto meaningful cognitiveunits.Fromthelatterpartofthe
chapter,we can nowsee thatforthevocabularyoflanguage,in and ofitself,
tobe a molderofthought, lexicaldissections
and categorizationsofnaturewould
havetobe almostaccidentally formed, ratheras thoughsomeJohnny Appleseed
hadscattered namedcategories capriciouslyovertheearth.In 6a, the"effects"
ofmostlexicallinguisticcategoriesareprobablyinseparablefromtheeffects
ofthefactors whichled initiallytotheformation and structuringofjustthose
categoriesratherthansome others.It would seem a farrichertaskforfuture
researchto investigate the entirecomplex of how languages,cultures,and
individualscome,in thefirstplace,to"dissect," and "name"nature
"categorize,"
in thevariouswaysthattheydo.
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278 Et cetera • Fall 1987
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Linguistic Relativity 279
foundations
logical oflanguage), itwillnotbepursued further here.
29. Berlin andKay,Basiccolor terms.
30. Munsell ColorCompany, Dominant wavelength andexcitation purityfordesignatedMunsell
colornotation (Baltimore: Munsell ColorCompany, 1970).
31. E.R. Heider, "Universais incolornaming andmemory," Journal ofExperimental Psy-
chology93 (1972): 10-20.
32. Thesemaynotactually bethe"best" chipstorepresent focalandnon-focal colors.Nei-
therBerlinandKay'slinguistics northeir research methods areabovereproach (see
N.RHickerson, "Review of'Basiccolor terms:Theiruniversality andevolution,'"Inter-
nationalJournal ofAmerican Linguistics 37(1971):257-270). Berlin andKaymayhave
included somecolors intheir basicnamelistwhich should beconsidered secondary
names, ormayhaveassigned secondary status tolegitimate basicterms; orthey may
havesystematically skewed thelocation oftheirbest-example clusters bytheuseofbilin-
gualsas subjects. Allsuch"errors" wouldonlycontribute to"noise"inthepresent
author'sresearch design andmakeitmoredifficult todemonstrate differ-
significant
encesbetween focalandnon-focal colors.
33. K.G.Heider, TheDugum Dani: A Papuanculture intheHighlands ofWest NewGuinea
(Chicago: Aldine, 1970).
34. Heider, "Probabilities, sampling, andethnographic method."
35. Heider andOliver, "Thestructure ofthecolorspaceinnaming andmemory fortwolan-
guages."
36. Heider, "Universals incolornaming andmemory."
37. cf.L.E. Bourne, Humanconceptual behavior (Boston: Allyn& Bacon,1968).
38. cf.J.S.Bruner, J.J. Goodnow, andG.A.Austin, A study ofthinking (NewYork: Wiley,
1956).
39. E. Rosch, "Ontheinternal structure ofperceptual andsemantic categories,"inCogni-
tiveDevelopment andtheacquisition oflanguage (NewYork:Academic Press,1973).
40. E.R. Heider, "'Focal'colorareasandthedevelopment ofcolornames," Developmental
Psychology 4 (1971):447-455.
41. E. Hering, Outlines ofa theory ofthelight sense
, trans. L.M. Hurvich andD. Jameson
(Cambridge: Harvard University Press,1964).
42. De ValoisandJacobs, "Primate colorvision."
43. Hering, Outlines ofa theory ofthelight sense.
44. Munsell ColorCompany, TheMunsell bookofcolor.
45. C.K. McDaniel, "Hueperception andhuenaming" (Unpublished honorsthesis,Har-
vardCollege, April1972).
46. P.M.Greenfield andC. Childs, "Weaving colorterms,
skill, andpattern representation
among theZinacantecos ofSouthern Mexico": Adevelopmental study(Unpublished
manuscript, Center forCognitive Studies, Harvard University, 1971).
47. E. Rosch, "Ontheinternal structure ofperceptual andsemantic categories."
48. J.S.Bruner andR. Tagiuri, "Theperception ofpeople," inHandbook ofsocial
psychol-
ogy,Vol.2,ed.G. Lindzey (Cambridge: Addison-Wesley, 1954).
49. P. Ekman, "Universal andcultural differences in facialexpressions ofemotion, in
NebraskaSymposium onMotivation, ed.J.Cole(Lincoln: University ofNebraska Press,
1972).
50. E. Rosch,"Verbal andnonverbal communication ofthesamearray: ofcode,cul-
Effects
ture,andclass(Unpublished manuscript, 1973).
51. E. Rosch,"Ontheinternal structure ofperceptual andsemantic categories."
52. E.R.Heider, "Nature ofthemental codefornatural categories" (Paperpresented atthe
meeting ofthePsvchonomics Society, St.Louis,November, 1972).
53. E. Rosch,"Ontheinternal structure ofperceptual andsemantic categories."
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